First time I've seen an ad on the Shambhala website that brought me to this page: http://www.jinje.us/Jinje.us/Home.htmlHere we read: "Enlightened Seon (Zen) Master Jinje, the 79th Patriarch in the Korean lineage of the Buddha" And also: "The greatest living master of Ganhwa Seon (Korean Zen), he practices a distinctive questioning style of meditation that traces its roots back to the Buddha and remains virtually unknown in the US."

On his other website it's simply stated, "He is the spiritual leader of the Korean Buddhist."His Wikipedia article plainly says: "Seon Master Jinje(1934~) is the greatest living master of Seon Buddhism secluded in Korea."

His bio on the Jogye Order's website says, "He is currently the spiritual patriarch (joshil) of Donghwasa Temple. He became a member of Jogye Order’s Council of Elders in 2003. He also received the prestigious designation of Great Master (Daejongsa) from the Jogye Order in 2004."

Is he really the leader of all Korean Buddhists? Is he the head of the Jogye Order? Neither of that seems accurate to me. Does he have an impressive campaign for his visit to the US? Sure he does. By the way, he is an elder teacher, so it is a programme worth visiting by anyone who can.

"There is no such thing as the real mind. Ridding yourself of delusion: that's the real mind."(Sheng-yen: Getting the Buddha Mind, p 73)

I don't know much about him either, but there was a flyer about this event and a one-day retreat with him at my temple (http://www.nychogyesa.org/) the following day. I'm going to the Thursday night event, not sure about the retreat yet.

Astus wrote:First time I've seen an ad on the Shambhala website that brought me to this page: http://www.jinje.us/Jinje.us/Home.htmlHere we read: "Enlightened Seon (Zen) Master Jinje, the 79th Patriarch in the Korean lineage of the Buddha" And also: "The greatest living master of Ganhwa Seon (Korean Zen), he practices a distinctive questioning style of meditation that traces its roots back to the Buddha and remains virtually unknown in the US."

On his other website it's simply stated, "He is the spiritual leader of the Korean Buddhist."His Wikipedia article plainly says: "Seon Master Jinje(1934~) is the greatest living master of Seon Buddhism secluded in Korea."

His bio on the Jogye Order's website says, "He is currently the spiritual patriarch (joshil) of Donghwasa Temple. He became a member of Jogye Order’s Council of Elders in 2003. He also received the prestigious designation of Great Master (Daejongsa) from the Jogye Order in 2004."

Is he really the leader of all Korean Buddhists? Is he the head of the Jogye Order? Neither of that seems accurate to me. Does he have an impressive campaign for his visit to the US? Sure he does. By the way, he is an elder teacher, so it is a programme worth visiting by anyone who can.

I do not know the exact situation.

But I do know that often things like being "a spiritual leader of such-and-such a place" can end up being "the spiritual leader of such-and-such a place"; or "a great living master" can become "the greatest living master"; etc. Often the people who do the English are close disciples, experts in facts about their teacher, but not experts of the English language and its tricks; nor experts in what sorts of Buddhism are or are not available in other countries.